A handsome tale
by HelenaMerigold
Summary: This is a handsome Jack story of how it could have been. If he had someone by his side. Someone to guard him and his sanity from betrayal and destruction.Welcome to a world of "what if" and meet handsome Jack: The real hero this time,right? Starts before the pre sequel and will follow the events all through Borderlands 2 and Tales of the Borderlands.
1. Prologue: A story to tell

**A handsome tale**

 **AN: I hope you will like my idea of Jacks story as the hero (or not) of Pandora. We will meet every character you love from Borderlands and some new people. Please tell me your opinion. Enjoy!**

 **Prologue: A story to tell**

The night was dark outside. His own face was mirrored in the glass of his window. Everything was dark nowadays. Even Pandora seemed dark down there.

Jack slowly turned around to face the tall man in the chair. He forced himself to smile. He was handsome Jack after all. He could smile in every situation.

"So so so. Now tell me my friend. Do you help me to get her back?, he asked as nicely as he could. Jack held his head high.

It was not common form him to ask someone for help. The man on the chair moved not an inch. He didn't even blink and nothing at all indicated he had heard Jack.

And Jack was absolutely not in the mood to wait for the stranger to finally decide to honour him with an answer. In a swift motion he swung the chair around and brought his face to the strangers.

"Do you help me now or not?! I don't have time to wait for you to sort out your crap! You are supposed to be smart and skilled with weapons. If you can't help me I have to find someone else to beat the Fire Hawkes. So tell me now: Do. You. Help. Me?", Jack pressed out with barely controlled rage.

 _His eyes must be flashing, he thought. Maybe he even looked dangerous. Hell yeah, because he was fricking dangerous and he would explode soon on that mudfish._

Jack focused back to the man on the chair. The stranger looked straight through him. Finally he seemed to focus on Jack.

He titled his head and began to answer: "My dear Jack. I might have the power to help you and I am willing to offer it to you. Not the less to my own advantage. My sister was taken too, you should remember that."

Jack began to relax and was about to tell the man his brilliant rescue plan when his new partner did what all annoying people tend to do: he interrupted him. _Bugger._

"But my help will come with the price. I want you to tell me the whole story. I want to know who that woman really is and where she comes from. But what interests me the most is: Who is handsome Jack?"

That was definitely not what Jack expected when he heard the stranger ask for a price. The stranger looked smug. Like he finally got his hands on a long awaited opportunity.

 _Opportunity_ , Jack thought. _Such a crap city in the hands of the firehawks_.

People hated those bandits. He and Helena. Thy had build a sanctuary for everyone how needed it. And their story was so long… And only he and Angel were left. And Helena of course. Kidnapped by those raider idiots.

He didn't have time to tell their secret to glory. Jack turned again and looked out of the window. He really didn't have time to go all chummy with this idiot and he _really_ didn't want to tell his story. _Far too painful_.

He looked down on Pandora and tried hard to remember what happened so many years ago. _And it's really been a long time. Good he wasn't some old stupid bandit now._

Everything had been fine until they reached the Helios. Life from there was just paved with betrayal and violence. _Moxxi_. Jack made a face at the memory of her. _That balloon boobs bitch._

He could vividly recall the moment he had to shoot the Meriff.

And damn that hot girl Nisha. She had definitely been a temptation. Hadn't Helen been there he might be someone else today. Maybe even evil.

Jack suddenly smelled citrus and heard Angels laugh. He saw a flash of dark brown hair and a glow of green tattoos. Those didn't belong to Angel.

Those were hers. Helena's. The woman he corrupted and the woman who saved him from his madness. He could recall every detail of the way she looked when she first appeared in that arena down on Pandora. Back to the days where he was just a simple handsome man living on that godforsaken planet and trying to make living for himself and his daughter.

Jack stared at his own reflection until he couldn't make out where the blackness started. _Those fuckers down on Pandora. Forcing him to spill the guts_ , Jack raged.

He didn't turn around to face the stranger he simply began speaking: "It's been a long time someone wanted to know how we came that far. Let me tell you how I met my guardian warrior."

But the only thing Jack wanted to tell was his own painful conclusion: Pandora was no place for a hero.

 **AN: I hope you enjoy the concept. Jack will now tell his story through all our lovely Borderlands games. Please review!**


	2. Chapter 1: A very long time ago

**AN: I hope this will be more interesting than the short prologue. Please let me know if you want me to continue the story. :)**

 **Chapter 1: A very long time ago on Pandora**

He was staring down on the little girl beside him. Her large blue eyes glued to the TV and her little mouth munching happily a piece of toast. Marmalade toast to be exact. She had already a tiny red stain on her blue dress. It was her favourite.

This moment was one of the first that Angel was beside him and not just a hologram. Normally she would be on her chair down in the control system. Her powers would be controlled and he could go to work and make a good living for them. Something poked him in the side. Jack turned to look for the source.

It was Angel who finished her toast and was trying to get him to listen. Jack smiled at the girl and asked: "What is it pumpkin? What can I do for you?"

Angel smiled a toothy grin and began to climb on his lap. She put her head on his shoulder and sighed. "Dad… I miss mom. I cannot sleep without her singing to me. And every time I try to sleep I see her screaming and falling over just from touching me. Did that really happen? Did I kill my mom?". Jack immediately froze. His mind went blank.

He remembered the day so clearly and his heart began aching from his sadness. Angel was a Siren. One of six blessed women in the universe. She had special powers. In her case she was able to do telepathy and god knows what else.

One day she wanted to play so badly outside with a girl named Fiona that she tried to control her mother. She wanted her mother to say yes or to get out of the room so she could sneak outside. But something went terribly wrong. Angel was too young to do it right. She entered her mother's mind and spoke to her in order to convince her to leave the room. At first Angels mother followed the command and left the room. But Angel forgot about the connection and didn't leave her mother's brain correctly.

Angel's energy summed up in her mother over the hours. Her body was not strong enough to harbour so much power and she got extremely weak. When Angel came back playing and found her mother unconscious on the floor she felt her forehead. The energy began to relapse on Angel. Angel's mother died right there on the kitchen floor because Angel absorbed every drop of energy left in her mother's body. Right there Jack came home from work and heard his wife screaming. He rushed in to the kitchen and found only his dead wife and his power glowing daughter who seemed to be in shock.

That day he put Angel in her control system and swore to himself to never let her out again. But there she was. Sitting on the sofa in her blue dress, asking him if she killed her mom.

Jack answered her with a heavy voice: "Yes dear. I am so sorry. It was accident from your siren powers. You didn't mean it. That's why I put you in that chair. You can't control your powers, love."

Angel nodded. She closed her big blue eyes und nodded again. "I have been a very bad girl. I deserve to be in that chair, Dad."

Jack couldn't take so much guilt form his little daughter. He pulled her close to his heart and buried his face in her soft hair. He spoke with a very soft voice he only used for Angel. "My dear Angel, you deserve no such thing. It's that siren in you that must be restraint. As long as I don't know how to control your powers it must be under surveillance. I can only do that in the chair, baby."

His daughter huddled closer into his arms and closed her eyes. She whispered back: "I think my Siren is asleep Dad. I want to be with you for a few more moments." And Jack granted her this wish.

He held her until she was fast asleep and carried her back to the control system. Finally he put her back on her chair and activated the system. Angel moved a bit in her sleep. Jack stroke her hair one last time bevor he left her place.

 _I don't know what to do with her,_ Jack thought. _Sometimes I hate her for killing my only love and sometimes she is my only love._

He went back to the living room and began to pack his things for work. To earn at least some money he was programming in a shabby start up on Pandora. Some woman named Moxxi wanted to build an Underdome for bandit fighting and offered him money for taking care of the programs. He couldn't say no because he needed that money for both of them.

 _I hate all that bandit fighting bullshit. This planet is infested by bandits and corrupt industries,_ Jack contemplated.

He carried a pistol to fight of eventual animals living on Pandora and constantly trying to kill every human being on this planet. His way to work was short. He spotted Moxxi on his first try. That woman had a bosom like two overfilled balloons. It was quite unnerving to speak to her with that amount of cleavage.

She came of over with her hips swinging and a sexy smile on her lips. "So there is my favourite co-worker, Jack. How are you today? Everything ready and willing to work, handsome?, Moxxi asked with a breathy voice.

Jack would have been lying if he said it didn't affect him. But dam that woman was just overdoing it. He had a taste for class and a real challenge. So he overheard the innuendo in her words and just nodded. Moxxi seemed a tat disappointed but not for long. She was already on her way to her next colleague, Mr. Torgue. Some beef-cake of a milksop. She was very interested in all those muscles.

Jack knew he was a handsome man and didn't waste single thought about any rivalry. He didn't want to get on with Moxxi anyway. So he finally arrived in the computer hall and got to work. He would be programming the shields between the arena and the spectators today. _Boring_.

All of a sudden he heard gunfire outside and a large amount of shouting. Nothing out of the ordinary on Pandora but Jack wanted to have look for himself. Maybe that beef-cake Torgue would be blown up. Or Moxxi lost some clothing. So Jack left the hall and went outside.

 _Dam those stupid bandits again. Attacking their own fighting arena. Those idiots were as smart as Dahl trash,_ Jack raged.

He was pissed enough to get outside and watch those idiots become meat loaf. He stopped dead in his tracks when he realised what that riot was about. It was a woman. And not just a woman it was a woman who could teleport herself around the area. She had glowing green tattoos on her skin and her short brown hair stood out after she was shocked multiple times by Moxxis gun. That woman looked like a Siren.

Jack was frozen to the ground he couldn't move an inch. His eyes were transfixed on the woman conjuring weapons of ice in her hands to fight of Mr. Torgue. This was a wink of destiny. That was what he could do for Angel. Maybe that Siren could help him and his daughter. He could get his life back and could finally leave that disgusting thing of a planet. Maybe he could live in space. A nice space station just for the two of them. Three, he corrected himself. That Siren would have to go with them.

His mind set on getting that women to help him he stepped on the battlefield. He had spotted a pattern in her movements and was ready to catch her the moment she teleported. Finally the mysterious woman appeared right beside him.

He grabbed her arm and shouted: "I won`t harm you! I can help you to get out of here. I promise not to hurt you. I never would be mean to a beautiful woman, cupcake."

The last bit he emphasized with a very handsome grin and a playful wink.

The woman looked strangely at him: "Cupcake?! Do I look like that balloon boobies Lady over there? For Pandoras sake call me Helena. Never, never again cupcake."

Jack was laughing hard while he was pulling her through the hall. He knew a small door on the back of the arena and intended to leave thorough it with Helena.

His laughter died down and he turned his head towards her: "Alright, Helena, love. You can call me Jack."


	3. Chapter 2: The truth,pumpkin

**AN: So Chapter 3 is here. We will soon reach the beginning of the pre sequel. If you like my writing please let me know. It is much more fun when I know someone enjoys reading my story. :) And thanks for the review Hashirama 1710!**

 **Chapter 2: The truth, pumpkin**

Back in the present Jack still stood with his back to the man in the chair. He was still looking down on Pandora through the black nothingness of space.

The stranger that nothing. Jack heard him shifting in the seat and let out a breath of air he didn't knew he had been holding. The face of Helena on this first day was so fresh in his mind…

Jack closed his eyes. "You know. She was a one of a kind beauty. Large green eyes, a face like a lady from another time. Her skin was so fair I thought I might look right through to her very essence of being. She was so graceful in moving but still stronger than any women I ever met. I could not figure her out. A face like a mask. Her eyes only mirroring your own questions. Unreadable like a closed book. A book with dark green tattoos of course...", Jack trailed off.

He could feel the softness of her hair between his fingers and the touch of her fingers on his face. His heart hurt.

The stranger cleared his throat. He wanted Jack to continue.

Jack sighed and continued with a heavy voice: "The only thing I found strange, was her hair. It was brown in all existing shades of _brown_. I expected it to be green. You know, like her tattoos. And it was short compared to the other women on Pandora. I found it refreshing. Strange but refreshing." He turned around and looked at the man in his office. Talking about all those old stuff. _It hurt._

Jack slowly shook his head and asked: "It is really necessary? I don't know what happens to her while I am telling you this things, kiddo. I think we are wasting very precious time with stupid storytelling. I am sick of this... Just fuck off and I will get someone else to help me."

He was suddenly pissed. Really pissed and wanted to punch that idiot for sitting relaxed in his office and waiting for him to tell his tale, a tale that was absolutely stupid.

He could sum it up in few words: He, was the hero. The other ones were the bad guys. And he had the woman. End of story.

He balled his hands into fists. The stranger finally said something: "You will find no one like me. I know their city. I have been there, I know their shields and location. No one will ever be able to help you as much as I can. They are not hurting your wife, Jack. They keep her in order to draw you out. You should be smart enough to understand that."

Now Jack was really pissed. He would say… _nah he wouldn't even think it._

She hated it if he got too much into slang. So he would say he was displeased.

 _Really, really displeased_. Jack played the scene in his head where he would punch the strangers face until he would tell him everything about the city. But he reminded himself that he was the hero in this story. The real one and she always helped him to stay that hero.

So he sat himself in his chair and took a deep breath.

"So you want to know how it continued. Well, my timewasting son of taint, I tricked her into helping me. Because I am handsome Jack."

 **Back a long time ago on Pandora**

"So where are we going, Jack?",

Helena asked a little suspicious while Jack dragged her along the dusty roads of Pandora. He couldn't think of an straight answer. So he just stuck relatively to the truth.

"We are going to my place, pumpkin. Nice little house of mine. We will be safe there." He smiled at her and tried not to look to calculating.

Helena just shrugged and came along. Jack inwardly shook his head. _That girl wouldn't survive one day on Pandora. So naive and trustful._

He stole a glance at her. She was looking around curiously as if she's never been here before. Now Jack became unsure what to make of her. Definitely a Siren, a powerful one, but why the hell was she looking around like he just walked out of a school yard?

"Well, dear…Where are you from? You look unfamiliar to me and strangely unfitting to this dusty lands.", Jack asked trying to conceal his curiosity.

Helena looked him straight in the face and said: "From a convent. Very far away from here. I ran away. No one should be stuck in a place like this. Sadly I had to leave a great friend of mine behind. I will miss her blue hair quite much, you know."

Helena stared far of in the sky. She was deep in memories. The sun seemed to be burning on her fair skin. No wonder she was this strange. A convent. Such a creature stuck in a dusty convent with perverted old man keeping watch over their virginity.

 _Disgusting_ , Jack inwardly tried to ban those thoughts into nothingness before he would puke.

At this his moment Jack decided that he would label Helena as maybe be a slightly better woman than other women, just take Moxxi as an example for "other women".

Helena was practically radiating with good woman light and he had far too many fucked up people in his life. He could use someone not trying to get his handsome face, or money or his absolutely perfect programming skills.

They finally arrived at his house and went inside." So my dear, have a seat. I will get you a cup of tea and you can rest for a minute.", Jack told her on his way to the kitchen.

He was thinking hard how to tell her about Angel and more importantly how to get her to help. Helena stretched out on his sofa and began to relax a bit. She seemed calm but he could tell that she was high on alert and attentive to each noise he made in the kitchen.

 _Not so naïve as I first took her for_ , Jack stated to himself. He went back to his living room with two steaming cups of tea in his hands.

The siren assessed his every movement and didn't let her guard down.

"You are not are warrior. More importantly you're not familiar with weapons and don't seem to be into violence, Jack. What are you doing out here with that bunch of people?", Helena asked him calmly.

He could feel her soft spoken and dreamy attitude disappearing. It had just been show to appear harmless. He would bet his handsome ass that had been her convent attitude. Now he could see the strong fighter and clever woman he met on the battlefield. He liked that one much more.

Jack seated himself next to her on the sofa. He put the cups down and faced Helena.

And for the first time in his life he just went with flow and told her the truth: "My lovely daughter is a telepathic siren and killed her mother. I restrained her to a computer system for her own good. But actually I am trying to have a real daughter."

"You know, dear, you look like a Siren. Thought you could be a bit of help here, pumpkin.", he finished with a grin.


	4. Chapter 3: The itchy rug

**AN: Hi to everyone who is still with me in this story. I promise we will reach the pre sequel the next chapter. Enjoy!**

 **Chapter 3: The itchy rug**

Helena sat deadly still beside him and didn't blink.

Suddenly she launched forward and grabbed Jack by his jacket, he was sure she was first aiming for his throat. _His handsome throat_.

Her attack was so powerful both of them fell to the ground. She was sitting on top of him holding his head up by his lapel. Jack became a bit nervous but to his own amusement this situation excited him as well. _Very much_.

Her green eyes were burning into his. Helena brought her face close to Jacks. He could smell citrus and lilies. _Quite an unusual mix but definitely alluring,_ Jack couldn't deny to himself.

She spoke slowly: "First things first: pumpkin is also forbidden. It's like you calling me your girlfriend, my lovely boy. You wouldn't want to call a women with a gun your girlfriend, right there?"

"Secondly, you imprisoned your own daughter and one of my own kind? What kind of mad man are you?

"And last but not least: you are surprisingly lean and fit for a programmer. Have any hidden identities, love?" Her last words were spoken quite mockingly but Jack prided himself for the compliment.

He tried to move under her, to get a bit more comfortable on his rug. In the blink of an eye he had an icy knife on his throat. He could feel the chill on the sensitive skin on his neck and tried not to shudder _. Damn, that woman is as dangerous as the whole planet._

"I would raise my hands in defeat, Helena but you are sitting on them. Not that I mind you sitting on me. You can go on for quite a while. I just tried to have a bit more comfort. Quite an old rug and a bit itchy… So no need for any weapons on my lovely skin, dear. I promise you, no nicknames anymore, okay?", Jack tried to explain himself.

He was in quite a tricky situation. Hopefully his handsome face would rescue him again. The knife disappeared. So did Helena.

Jack laid dumbstruck on his itchy rug and tried not move too fast in case she was standing behind him and would attack. Nothing happened for the next minutes and finally Jack began to understand that she teleported somewhere else. He stood up and walked around in his house. He found no trace of Helena and somewhere in a corner of his mind Jack began to fret he just pushed his only hope away.

Seconds turned into minutes of silence.

"Such a lovely child. Her mother must have been a beauty. What is her name?", asked a voice right beside him and nearly scared him out of his wits. Jack turned as fast as he could manage.

Helena was standing beside him, a sleeping Angel snuggled in her arms and looking curiously at him.

Jack held up his hands: "Wait a moment. You just threatened my life and asked a lot of questions then you disappear and come back with my daughter, her name is Angel by the way, in your arms and being all lovely again? That's a bit disconcerting, honey." Helena raised her eyebrows in a mocking way.

He took a step closer to her and lightly touched her cheek. "Can't we go back to you sitting on me?", he asked with a low voice not breaking eye contact with the Siren. For a second she was mesmerized by his eyes. He could practically see her mind reeling and just when he was convinced her had her, Angel opened her eyes.

"Why would you want that lady sit on you, Dad?", Angel asked with a sleepy voice.

Helena moved again and sat Angel down. "Yes, Jack why would you want this lady sit on you?", she asked him mockingly.

Jack began to laugh: "Oh I think now you have me.", he turned to Angel: "Because I am very comfortable, aren't I, little sleepyhead?" He ruffled Angel's hair and smiled down to her.

Angel began to grin and nodded:" Yes, my Dad is very comfortable. I often fall asleep in his arms. Sometimes he even humms a-", Jack interrupted her.

"That's enough about you, cupcake. No need to spill all our secrets on the lady's first visit."

Helena stood in the room like a stature. She was watching Jack and his daughter. Her thoughts were running wild: _I don't know what to make of him._

 _He might be a mad man. But that girl… She is overfilled with guilt. Not a real child anymore._

 _I don't trust him that's all show but I am sure I can figure him out. Maybe I stay. Maybe I can be that girl's guardian. She needs guidance and not from that father of hers. Handsome father,_ she corrected.

 _Yes she would help._

Finally the Siren moved again. Jack already thought she might have put herself in stasis. Who knows what those women could do.

Helena gave him a quick smile and slowly made her way over to him. Now she stood so close to him he could smell citrus and lilies again. Her lips were inches away from his ear.

"I will help Angel. I already had to leave Maya behind on Athena. I won't leave Angel behind in your incompetent hands, Jack. And my love, I know there is more about you. Don't be delusional and think I trust you, as handsome as you are but I met my fair share of deceiving good looking men.", she whispered in his ear.

He could feel her lips moving against his earlobe. He knew she was doing it deliberately.

"Message understood, Helena. Do whatever you have to. I won't sabotage you, if it's that what you are thinking. My home is your home. I assume you don't have one, haven't you, love?",

Jack asked her already knowing her answer. Her being form Athena made it impossible for her to have a home on this… planet thing.

Helena stepped a bit back, nodded and said: "Yes I need a home, Jack. It might be the best to live in the same place as Angel. But first we get her out of that chair forever. She will never be but in that chair again. Understood, handsome?"

She gave him a stern look and had her arms on her hips.

 _Now she only needs to blow a strand of hair out of her face and it would be the spitting image of an angry woman_ , Jack thought.

"Yes, my lady." Jack answered her trying to sound serious. He paused and then asked: "Hey, Helena mind getting a cat for our little Angel? I miss having a cat. My grandma murdered mine when I was young. Didn't made my bed. You know the usual stuff."

 **AN: Any ideas/wishes about the cats name? Thanks for reading and please review!**


End file.
